1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to silk-screening and, more particularly, to an improved heat press for thermally transferring various transfers including foil onto garments.
2. Description of the Background
Hot stamp transfers such as foils are used to stamp images onto various substrates such as paper, plastic film and even rigid substrates. Foil transfers have become very popular in the fashion retail industry because they produce a popular metallic mirror shine effect. For garments, a heat activated adhesive is typically silkscreened onto the garment. A sheet of foil transfer material is laid atop the garment and it is placed in a heat press. Pressed and heated areas of the foil become adhered. After removing a toil hacking the areas that have undergone pressure and heat exposure remain on the substrate, whereas unexposed areas are removed with the foil backing.
There are a variety of heat presses for transfer printing. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,386,993 discloses a press in which the upper platen moves relative to the lower platen by way of a cam and rocking member. U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,248 discloses a decal press with a motor driven upper platen, U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,883 discloses a hand operated press with adjustment for the gap between the platens. U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,633 discloses a press with a pneumatic engager to press the upper platen onto the lower platen and a timer mechanism. U.S. Pat. No. 4,963,208 discloses a system for applying a decorative device using a swingable upper platen.
The foil transfer process requires a specialized heat press capable of applying extremely uniform temperature and pressure across the silk-screened garment. Unfortunately, the prior art presses are fixed-bed presses not able to achieve a high degree of uniformity. What is needed is a heat press having a spring-mounted platen that can accommodate minor variations in garment thickness and still deliver a high quality thermal transfer.